RIP My Iron.....................

Had one of those moments yesterday, where I had an amazng idea re a quilt to make. I washed & organised my fabrics with the plan to put the girls to bed last night & spend the evening with my sewing machine, whilst watching a dvd = BLISS!!

Unfortunately, upon our return from doing the afternoon school run, I discovered my iron lying in a puddle of water on the floor. It looks like it was knocked off the shelf (probably by all the uneccessary crap on the shelf- must sort that out!!) & the water tank in it has cracked. Therefore my sewing evening was put on hold until a new iron can be purchased  :-(

Now, I never thought there would be a day where I would mourn the loss of an iron, as I HATE ironning. Well, to be honest I dont actually hate the process of ironning, its actually quite peaceful I just hate the really bad backache I get afterwards!! 

So, instead of making a lovely quilt, instead I will concentrate on some crocheting, & I think I may have some sewing projects all ready to go (cut, ironned, & pinned) Maybe I will get to spend some time with my lovely machine after all!!

Happy Friday!!

xxx

January's Crochet Project.

One of my Goals (not resolutions) for 2011, is to complete 1 large project a month. For Januarys project, I decided to ease myself in by aiming to finish an ongoing project, that was started at some point last year (I'll have to do some investigating to find the exact start date. I really should take more note of the details, LOL!) Anyway, this was destined to be a Granny Stripe blanket for my bed. I started it with the best intentions....... only to realise about 5 stripes in exactly how big a project it is, & how much wool/yarn it will take. Especially as a 50gram ball makes approx 2 stripes & costs about £2.50/3.00 a ball. So, after some thinking (not tantrum throwing as Im far too grown up for that!! ) I decided to instead make a runner for the bottom of my bed.

I'm about halfway through...........What do you think?  I should have enough wall to finish the number of stripes I'm aiming for, but I'd like to do a scalloped edging (if I can figure out how to do it, I have an idea, I just need the correct number of stitches on the side) so I'll probably need a ball or 2 of the chocolate yarn.

I'm loving it so far!!! & I'm planning on starting a Ripple for Feb's project!!

I also plan to Document 2011, following Shimelle's Document 2010 freebie class. I've loved seeing other peoples versions, especially Laura's. I managed to pick up a couple of American Crafts scrapbooking kits the other week, so have planned to use the pink album for this project. Will post a pic soon.

As for today? Well, it's a lovely sunny Sunday (although a bit chilly), Hubby has had to work :-(  & Keely, who has only just gone back to school after missing most of December due to a nasty bug wiping her out, is poorly again. So, our plan for today consist of :

Blogging
Having a quick tidy up of the house.
Laundry (it's never ending!)
Doll making with the girlies. (EPIC FAIL!!)
Watching one of the Harry Potter movies (Keely has the deciding vote on which one)
Making blueberry muffins before the blueberries go off
& maybe a lemon cake too?
Crocheting some of this months project
& maybe a star or 2?
Dinner
Sunday night bath & hair wash for us all!!

Have a good Sunday.

xxx

3:02pm Update: House cleaned (although it pretty much got messed up again straight away!), muffins & cake cooking, now about to settle down to make our dolls & watch HP.  :-)

4:25pm Update: Doll making attempt abandoned due to dolls (that are for kids to make) being too difficult for an adult to figure out, let alone teach a child to do & said children become frustrated.  :-(

Fave Photos of 2010

I was going to do one of those 2010 re-cap posts, I've been enjoying them so much on others blogs esp Lucy's. But when I sat down to start planning said post, I realised that 2010 had been a pretty rubbish year. Lots of stress, upset, confusion........not really want I want to blog about!!

So, instead I picked out my fave photos of 2010, & you'll get to see them instead!!

I have to admit I was very glad to see the back of 2010. Dont get me wrong, there were plenty of good times, unfortunately they were greatly outnumbered by the bad. 2011 hasnt started brilliantly, but it can only get better?

2010 was taken over by health & social issues for one of my girls. Fingers crossed we will soon start to finally get some answers.

My creative side, understandably, was put on a back burner. It occassionally poked its head out. I learnt to crochet!! Which has got to be my creative highlight of the year :-) 

But, I've come to the conclusion (actually it was pointed out to me) that I need my 'Me' time to be able to function & cope with things. Therefore Im aiming to waste less time watching rubbish tv & spending too much time on the net. I love the net for the amount of creativity out there, but at the same time, it depresses me as I find myself getting jealous of people who manage to acheive so much but stay in control of their lives, family & home at the same time.

I've got some ideas, that I need to put into motion. Some small, some big...................but that'll be another blog post!!

xxx

A Frosty Sunday Morning....

Good Morning!! It's very cold this morning so I'm snuggled up on the sofa, with the girlies. The Hubby is braving the cold doing the 1st part of his motorbike test this morning, rather him than me!! LOL!!

I'm hoping it warms up soon, as Megan & I are off to a local xmas craft show when he gets back. We have been looking forward to it for ages!!

We started on the xmas decorations yesterday. The trees are up & decorated, we just need to work on the rest if it. In fact I've spent the morning crocheting Grandma Twinkle Stars & later I'll be trying the Grandma Trees, these will be strung together to decorate my dresser. Will post some progress photos later.

Ok, well wherever you are, I hope you are well & warm. I'm off to get myself & the girls ready.

Happy Sunday!!

xxx

Catch Up Post - Pt 1.

The weather has been rubbish, but I got to wear my new boots!! Yes, I finally got wellies........& pink with polka dot ones!! Just the thing to brighten up the school run  :-)

The miserable weather resulted in many, many cups of tea being drunk. (& 1 or 2 biccies)

A new crochet project was started. So far, I'm loving it!!

Somebody who shall remain nameless, refused to wear her gloves (or hat, or blanket) outside, but was more than happy to wear her sisters ones inside?

This Diva (who now 'poses' for photos!) began Rainbows for the first time & loved it!! She has been waiting for a space in the local group since January.

The same evening, her Big Sister (who for some reason now pulls faces when the camera is pointed in her direction) finally made her Promise at Brownies, something she has been waiting to do since Easter!!

That evening was very busy & stressful, but fun at the same time!!

& this Little Madam turned 2!!

& enjoyed her cake!!

(I'll do a seperate post about her cake later!!)

xxx

My Craft Space...........................

Wasn't very inspiring to be creative in, LOL!!! Some major tidying & organising needed to be done.

                                                       Much better!! :-)

Needed to put all my wool into a box with a lid, as the kids love to play with it!! Even though they have wool of their own, I guess Mummy's is just better.

I have to say I do agree!! Love my wool, & this is just half of it.

Whilst I was on my organising kick, I decided to organise my stash my attaching a piece of wool to it's label for future reference.

My photos are awful at the moment! I think my camera doesnt like me. Plus the light in that room is terrible.

I also needed a box for my crochet WIPs. Will post about these later on.

So now I have a lovely clean creative space.  Unfortunately my space will be moved soon, in order for the xmas tree to be put up. Plus I'm sure that our next house wont have the space for a desk that size, so downsizing is in order. At least now it is tidy, it will be easier to do.

xxx

Our Weekend Plans.

Well, so far my weekend has consisted of waking up with a nearly 2 year old climbing on me, making breakfast for everyone, lunch for the Hubby who has to work today, then about 4 cups of tea whilst catching up on some blogs. The weather is miserable, not raining fortunately but grey & so dark, that I still have the lamp on & it's 10:45am!!

I decided late last night that I would photograph & blog the weekends activities, which seemed like a good idea!! So far however, no photos have been taken!! LOL.  But I will continue with this plan.

Our weekend activities are looking like this:

- Some crafty time for the older girls, which will involve a very large piece of paper, as well as glue, glitter (probably) & maybe paint.
- Some painting time for the younger one, as I finally got her some paints this week.
- Some creative time for me!! Yay!! I really need to get on with the crochet squares for my scarf, which could be done this evening whilst catching up with the Bones episodes I have saved in prep for the new series starting next week :-)
- Maybe even some scrapbooking for me? Havent scrapped in over a year, but I have soooooo much stash that needs to be used!! & I have even printed photos in preparation for this!!
- Baking a delicious looking chocolate cake!! & maybe a strawberry flan too???
- A walk in the woods, to collect leaves, conkers & other Autumn things, to craft & decorate the house with.
- Maybe a family movie night? We watched the Tooth Fairy last week which was very good, even though the kids played up & were sent to bed half way through leaving the adults to watch the rest. Heres hoping this time goes better?!
- A crafty project involving some gorgeous postcards I've wanted for ages, some frames from the £shop, some paint & ribbon.

Sounds like a good weekend, so I'd better switch off the 'puter & get off the sofa so I can do all the boring housewifey stuff first!! Then we can get on!!! Yay!!


What are you up to?? Have a good one.

xxx

Monday Mornings..........

............are rubbish anyway, but today is absolutely miserable. Woke up to a dark grey sky & rain, but not pouring down rain, instead we have that horrible misting rain, that, even though its light rain, it soaks you through. Yuck!! Hubby has gone for his first day at college (so proud of him!!), so the morning routine was all down to me (although now I'm writing this, I'm realising that the morning routine is always down to me!!) Megan had her school photographs today, which added the stress of keeping her super tidy until she got to school......is it just my kids that only look tidy for 5 minutes?? So, once the school run was done, & Lilly-Rose & I returned home, soaking wet, there was only one thing to do:

Yep, have a cuppa!!

I did not, however, have a piece of cake. This picture was taken last week, hence the sun!! It was a very delicious Marble cake :-)  But I did use that cup!!

************************

Now on to something creative. Im totally hooked on crocheting (hooked, geddit??!!) & last week, whilst out for some Mummy&Megan time, I saw a gorgeous crocheted scarf in Accessorize. The price however was not gorgeous, £22!! No way!! So, after scrutinising a picture & figuring out the colours used, I took a trip to my local wool shop & picked out some wool. I chose acrylic wools, as they are cheaper, with the total cost coming to £17. Now I know what you are thinking, add the cost of the wool to the time it will take, why dont I just buy it? But the lady who owns the shop told me that I could probably make 3 scarves from the wool I've got, so there's 2 xmas presents sorted!!

Heres the wool, in Attic24 style:

I have to say that the navy wool is horrible to work with!! But the Stylecraft Special wool (the middle 3 in the bottom wool) are a dream!! I think the colours are Pomegrante, Meadow & Lavender. & it cost under £2 a ball which is an absolute bargain.

So far I've finished 6 squares, only 34 more to go!!

But I'm loving it!! (You can see what the finished article should look like in the picture). Am setting myself a deadline to finish by Monday 4th October, which is 1 week today! However, I've just worked out that I will need to crochet 5 squares a day, which could be pushing it!! LOL!! Maybe I should extend my deadline to the following Monday?

xxx

A Crochet Ta-Daa!!!

In the spirit of Lucy, at Attic24, heres my first crocheted blanket/throw!!!

**Taa-Daa!!!!!!**

It's the Granny Stripe Blanket. It was pretty simple, as long as you know how to chain stitch, double & treble crochet, you are good to go!! Its not as bright & colourful as Lucy's, but I have found a company that sells the exact wool that Lucy used as a set, so thats on my wish list.

My blanket is set to live on my sofa, although the other sofa is now feeling jealous!! Im thinking of granny squares (if I can ever master them!!) for it?

The edging is granny square trebles all around the edge.

The wool is cheap acrylic, as I didnt want to use expensive wool for my 1st project in case it was a disaster!! I have to say though, that apart from the brown, which was really 'squeaky', it was a dream to work with.

xxx